Computer workstations typically include a computer monitor, a keyboard, and a computer mouse. However, many users find that the reaching required to access a keyboard on the desktop over the course of an entire day to be a source of discomfort and, in certain cases, physical injury. Furthermore, keyboards retained on a desktop occupy otherwise usable space thereby reducing the available desktop.
Accordingly, keyboard drawers and other supports are often employed to conserve space and to enable an adjustment of the distance of the keyboard from the user. In such devices, a tray is typically provided for supporting the keyboard. The tray is movable, usually by sliding, from a retracted, storage position to an extended position for use.
Other keyboard supports have been disclosed that provide further ergonomic benefits to the user, including by enabling an adjustment of keyboard height and angle. However, the keyboard supports of the prior art are often difficult to adjust. Furthermore, they are typically limited in the keyboard adjustment options that are necessary to achieve the desired ergonomic benefits. Still further, most keyboard support arrangements provide no means for supporting a separate computer mouse thereby nonetheless requiring the user to reach for the desktop repeatedly and to set aside a workspace on the desktop for the mouse.
The present inventor has further recognized that the keyboard supports of the prior art also fail to provide adequate support to the user's wrists. The failure to provide adequate, ergonomically sound support to user's wrist during the repetitive motions involved in data entry and other continual computer usage can lead to discomfort and a variety of possible injuries.
One common repetitive stress disorder is carpal tunnel syndrome, a disorder that can lead to debilitating pain in the wrists of those who use keyboards and other data entry devices. Carpal tunnel syndrome is believed to develop as the hands and wrists of the user are held in an unnatural position during repetitive tasks performed over a prolonged period of time.
A number of devices have been disclosed by the prior art with the goal of improving wrist support to prevent pain and injury deriving from repetitive computer usage. One common device is a wrist brace that does provide support. However, wrist braces are restrictive and awkward and often leave the user sweating within the cast-like devices. The prior art also has disclosed innumerable types of pads designed to rest on the desk or other support surface to provide an elevated wrist support. Disadvantageously, such pads are often insufficiently flexible and provide a continuous surface of substantially impermeable material. With that, the user is again faced with discomfort and undesirable perspiration.
With an appreciation for the foregoing, the present inventor has appreciated that there is a need in the art for an adjustable support for a computer keyboard that is capable of providing adjustable support to a computer mouse while also providing ergonomically sound, breathable support to the wrists of a user.